First off, what is Science? Is it all test tubes and guys in white coats who never see the light of day? Not so much, Webster’s Dictionary defines science as: knowledge or a system of knowledge covering general truths or the operation of general laws especially as obtained and tested through scientific method. You see, science is in everything we do from waking up in the morning to the second we lay our head down to go back to sleep. Science encompasses all, and for that very reason we should try to excel in it.
According to Steven Hawking, “The eventual goal of science is to provide a single theory that describes the whole universe.”
A Brief History of Time
What he is saying is that, essentially science is here to answers the biggest questions we all have. Why are we here? What comes after death? What is the point of our existence? The problem with this is that it creates a paradox. He argues that, if there was a unified theory that sums up the universe it would also determine the outcome of our actions. In searching for this theory we would enviably find that the theory itself would dictate the outcome for search itself. But what if it doesn’t lead us to the right answer? It is equally possible for it to lead us to the wrong answer, or even no answer at all.
Steven Hawking says, “The only answer I can give to this problem is based on Darwin’s principal of natural selection. The idea is that in any population of self-reproducing organisms, there will be variations in the genetic material and upbringing that different individuals have. These differences will mean that some individuals are better able than others to draw the right conclusions about the world around them and act accordingly. These individuals will be more likely to survive and reproduce and so their pattern of behavior and thought will come to dominate. It has certainly been true in the past that what we call intelligence and scientific discovery have conveyed a survival advantage. It is not so clear that this is still the case: our scientific discoveries may well destroy us all, and even if they don’t, a complete unified theory may not make much difference to our chance of survival.”
A Brief History of Time
So if Darwin is correct, with every new generation the human race is more prone to discover the laws that govern our universe. Otherwise we won’t survive as a race. And although our scientific discoveries have been largely beneficial such as nuclear power to generate energy for us, it has also sundered us, by using that same nuclear energy to create the world’s most devastating weapon. People as a whole have a tendency to destroy things. It’s a very primal thing to destroy, but with every discovery we make about our universe the closer we get to finally answer that big question.
What is the meaning of life?
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